The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1887-06-09
THE BAHAMA ISLES.
A PART OF EARTH FAVORED
GREATLY BY THE ELEMENTS.
1t is So Easy to Live There That No
body Works Much, and Our Corre-
spondent Calls 1t "The Dreamful Land
of Shirk"-Nussau's Wreckers,
Especial Correspondence

of Shirk"-Nassau's Wreckers.
Especial Correspondence
NASSAU, n. p, May 2L-The most sensible |
thing one can 40 when en- route to and from
Cuba is to pay a short visit to the Bahama
Islands When you were at school and At
geography you noticed little group OF
wrinkle surrounded specks on the map Off the
coast of Florida, but nobody ever impressed
YOU with the idea that they were worth re-
memhering.
But they seem the veritable Isles of the Blest.
to the voyager from northern seas, driven
through bowling blasts, flinty sleet, waves OF
desperate cruelty, bitter skies and the attack
of murderous elements on every hand
have an abiding sentiment of love for those
lands i'll which, a part of the year, great
waves of cold grip humanity in such a sturdy
way that thought OF ones kind is impelled by
the savagery of elemental conditions Around
the preparation for such rigor, the brave
hours such condition compels, The plenty and
want it intensifies and the glad dSenthrall
ment that always comes, have been woven
the tenderest tributes of the human heart
Tropc climes charm only in their first rich
bewildering draught And in this true sense
if you have any sentiment about you, the
first glimpse of these dreamful isles will fiji
you with all sorts of vagaries and visions,
while a brief visit will set them in your
memory as a spot of endless enchantment.
From Hole in the WALL" which point is
one of the greatest Importance to seafaring
men, especially sailing masters who select the
wonderfully interesting passage to the West
Indies across the Bah;sna banks, il is but u
few hours sail to Nassau, and you are rarely
out of sight of emerald shore or threatening
key, and you feel an indefnable sense OF
witchery in isle and sea and softened, bamy
airs which you can scarcely shake off. 1t is
narcotic, but not restful | would say the
first touch of it all to the keen sense is of the
| blissful trance of the opium smoker, where
the inner or spirit sense roves ravishingly. II
lays hold of ones very soul. All about you
| it is weird, charming, sensuous
The sea has changed from its hard, cold,
| steely blue 1t is now almost milky white,
but translucent. The horizon, which in the
drear ATTITUDES shuts down about you with
snch close, prisoning hardness, seems wonder
fully far above you, and so feecy and soft
and tender that it prompts to undreamed o.
flights toward heaven. The stars, which in
sthe icy zone shot at you with savage, glitter,
y
fervor of lovers eyes and pulse and glow pas
gionately In the long watches of the drear.'
nights on sbipboard you have each night serl
7 the north star set lower and lower toward n
horizon rim of awful dreariness like O dla.
mond point of cold but endless light Now,
away at the edge of the nights southern lori.
zon appears the uplifting southern cross, and
it throbs and flames with infinite fires. The
| nd ,pb l,;r !,
you half recognition of invisible and witchine
presences, akin to hint, suggestion dallionce
touching you in loving lingering pusations
milling the senses tenderly.
All this and inexpressiby more, influence.
you strangely; and when you have reached
the quaint and fine old city of Nassau you
have half mind to desert your ship and al
the fussy, frigid world you came out of, ant
lose yourself for the remainder Of your life
as Blennerhasset did, in the tropic splendor
the opulent beauty and the lmitless rest tina
ever breathe their universal presence here.
Of the Bahama Islands the largest ar
Grand Bahama, Great and Little Abaco
Elentheria, New Providence, Andres, Sal
Salvador, Exumn, Long and Crooked Islands
Inagua and Caicos. Separated from Florid
by the old Bahama channel and the Gulf O
Florida, whose great depth and rapidity O
the gulf stream tide always compel anything
but tranquil passages to and from the Yves
Indies, they extend i'll chainlike group fron
a point opposite the northern Florida coas
southeasterly to APPOINT just north of the cost
ern shores of Cuba, a distance of 10
miles. The inhabitable Islands are twelve i
number. Besides this, the chain comprise
661 keys and 1887 reefs and cliffs; altogethe
they consist of 3,06l islands and slets. The
become wondrous subject for study and re
Election, in connection with the marvelou
Bahama banks adjoining them on the west
between the islands proper and the Gulf O
Florida, when it is remembered that they ar
formed of low calcareous rocks, which wer
undoubtedly once the submits of mountain
rising high above the ocean, submerged dur
ing some awful convusion of nature, and en-
larged and reelevated, for the use of man, b.
coral insects whose labor and numbers are be
You'd the capacity of the human mind to cor
; ceive.
Spain first opened these islands, and on thei
l discovery the Spaniards found race c
aborigines in possession so gentle and chile
3 like, so courtly and chivalrous SO loving an
hospitable, that the legends of their downfa
before the heartless invaders form one Of I'll
most touching pages of history.
The present population of the Baham
Islands is between 10000 and 5000 soul
j But outside of the resident English and th
/ whites Of other nationalties, who, while
n most instances intelligent enough, are enel
waited and utterly without enterprise, the
o are listless, indolent lot indeed. Simple e1
d istence seems their highest aspiration. Natur
is so prodigal that this requires little effort
r For the most part English is spoken. Yo
|. will hear little else save a strange mixture c
|. Spanish and English, with a strong shadin
of the negro dialect, which produces a mos
n laughable, but readily understood, jargon.
e These people of this sunny land have trul
many pleasant and loyable traits. This
true of the most ignorant and most sodden
@ Incidence and poverty. Here at least, how
=. ever it may be in other lands of the tropic
,. the sunny hours have not developed treachel
GUS, passionate, sullen natures. Frankn es
open faced geniality, happy hearted trihinl
merry indigepce and pleasant eyed unthril
. Seem the most marked and striking phasc
,, Of character. One looks in vain for exertio
IL | and lahoriouq effort Nnhodu ic ovor In